Tour of Oman riders enjoy scenic roads on Day 1

Sports Tuesday 14/February/2017 13:56 PM
By: Times News Service
Tour of Oman riders enjoy scenic roads on Day 1

Muscat: Riders taking part in the eighth edition of Tour of Oman had a wonderful time going through some brilliant terrain in the country on day 1 of the race.
Stage 1 covered a distance of 176.5km and saw the 144 participants’ race from the picturesque Al Sawadi beach to the beautiful Naseem park road.
“Cyclists in the first phase, which started from Al Sawadi beach went through Musannah, Rustaq, Awabi, Nakhal, Wadi Maa’wil, and finished at Al Naseem park, covering a distance of 176.5 kilometre where officials from the Muscat Municipality, Tour of Oman, media and the public welcomed the riders,” said Habib Saif Al Zawawi, Media Coordinator at Tour of Oman.
Riding through the beautiful yet slightly challenging territory, Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff finished first on day 1 followed by Italian Kristian Sbaragli and Italian Sonny Colbrelli who currently rides for Bahrain-Merida.
Seventeen year old Omani rider Noufal Al Habsi was a honourary participant of the first 10km of the eighth edition of the Tour of Oman race which was flagged off on Tuesday morning at 11am and ended by about 3pm.
Mohammed Abdullah Al Breiki, the Wali of Barka flagged off stage 1 of the six day race at Al Sawadi beach with 144 riders.
According to Al Zawawi, the weather was nice cloudy when the cyclists started, however it was not the best through the rest of the four hour journey.
“In the morning it was windy and cloudy, so the weather was lovely, however it later became a little warm through the rest of the afternoon.”
In stage 1 there were two feeding stations, one before Rustaq and another after Halban, where the riders slowed down and collected some food to eat as they rode. Every team was allowed to carry 16 spare tyres with them.
A top official from Ooredoo Oman distributed the prizes to the winners at the finish line at Al Naseem Park.